1. Human Development Adolescence 13 – 17 years

2. Physical Growth  Growth spurt Girls 9-10; slow down at 15 Boys 12-17  Boys—voice deepens; adds muscle with a decline of body fat. Motor performance increases dramatically  Girls adds more body fat than muscle; motor performance decreases  Onset of puberty Early/late bloomers Early maturation

3. Changes in Brain Structure  Trimming of the pre-frontal lobe of the brain  Mood swings  Unreasonable and unpredictable behavior  Rising depression among youth  Increase of teenage suicide  Youth need greater demonstration of love, yet they are often unlovable

4. Changes in Brain Structure  The “ring of fire” At-risk Youth

5. Mental Growth  Formal operational reasoning  Long-term knowledge base continues to expand  Develops more complex rules for problem solving  Becomes less self-conscious and self-focused  Becomes better at planning and decision making

6. Emotional Growth  Develops self-concept & self-esteem  Starts dating  Searches for an identity  Experiences mood swings  Overall exhibits better self-control if properly disciplined in the earlier years

7. The Adolescent 13-19  Developmental Tasks Search for identity Gaining emotional independence from parents and other adults Achieving assurance of economic independence

8. Factors that complicate growth  Home influences mixed with many others  Explosion of information (internet)  Varied career options  Rapidly changing environment and the need for continuous learning  Expectations of marriage and parenthood revised (divorce & remarriage)  Delay in economic and emotional independence when youth are physically and sexually mature

9.  The increased moratorium between childhood and adult responsibility resulting in delayed independence is one of the chief sources of youth- parent conflicts. — William Rogers

10. Relationship between adolescent rebelliousness & search for identity  Lack of emotional maturity; dependence on parents for financial support; therefore, unable to set up own home or enter into a career, youth seeks to make a statement of independence by rejecting parents’ values.

11. Issues  Peer pressure & influence Drugs, smoking, alcohol Premarital sex Teen pregnancies  500,000 births per year in the U.S.  400,000 teenage pregnancies end in abortion  U.S. girls younger than 15 are 5 times more likely to give birth than are girls from any other developed country  Between 1973 and 1987, pregnancy among teens between 10 and 14 increased 23%

12. Teen Pregnancy  Physical, psychological and financial costs are high  Millions of adolescents are sexually active but ignorant about the consequences.

13. Moral development  Likely to have a conventional moral orientation  Youth either find meaning in church or apostasize

14. Adolescent heresy  “We have noted that in certain instances of parent-youth conflict, displaced aggression toward the parent may be directed against the church, resulting in a characteristic type of adolescent heresy.”-- Ausubel

15. Rejection of Parental Values  A time when critical faculties are developed; they begin to think for themselves.  Notice the flaws in the adult value system.  Adults talk their values, but fail to do them.  Therefore, results in the adolescent withdrawal from religion and church.

16. Adolescent Heresy  “It is because so many parents and teachers profess to believe the Word of God while their lives deny its power, that the teaching of Scripture has no greater effect upon the youth.” Ed 259

17. Reasons from Teens on Leaving the Church  NOT because of doctrine but confusion over the walk and the talk  Cold churches and unfriendly  Irrelevance (boring)  Intolerance  Convenience  Rejected because of premarital pregnancy or other “sins”  Interpersonal conflicts

18. PREVENTION & HEALING for Adolescent Heresy  Listen and understand  Facilitate gradual independence  Give responsibility and hold them responsible  Guide in value formation  Teach decision making from principles  Allow unwise decisions—learn from mistakes  Don’t battle your teens; show unconditional love  Model attractive & satisfying religion. Roger Dudley, Why Adventist Youth Leave the Church, pp 219- 221